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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/30008661">Watch and Wait</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ace_of_Demi_Space/pseuds/Ace_of_Demi_Space'>Ace_of_Demi_Space</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Book of Mormon - Ambiguous Fandom, The Book of Mormon - Parker/Stone/Lopez</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>(nothing explicit), Gen, Indirect allusions to assault depression and suicidal thoughts</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 20:54:16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>602</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/30008661</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ace_of_Demi_Space/pseuds/Ace_of_Demi_Space</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>The boy had sworn him to silence, but even if he hadn’t Gotswana would never have breathed a word of what he knew. Sure he had joked in the clinic, but that was more to distract the boy than anything. Elder Price wasn’t the first to come to him after an encounter with the General, and he certainly wouldn’t be the last.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Watch and Wait</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p><strong>Rating:</strong> T<br/><strong>Warnings:</strong> Depressing thoughts, allusions to sexual assault, depression, and suicide<br/><strong>Category:</strong> Gen<br/><strong>Characters:</strong> Gotswana, mentions of Elder Price<br/><strong>Setting:</strong> After the hospital scene in “I Am Africa”<br/><strong>Disclaimer:</strong> I own nothing you recognize.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h1>Watch and Wait</h1>
<p>The boy had sworn him to silence, but even if he hadn’t Gotswana would never have breathed a word of what he knew. Sure he had joked in the clinic, but that was more to distract the boy than anything. Elder Price wasn’t the first to come to him after an encounter with the General, and he certainly wouldn’t be the last. </p>
<p>Gotswana had seen them come and go—men, women, boys, girls—people he had known all his life and complete strangers. He treated them to the best of his ability, but he was a doctor with limited resources. He could try to heal their bodies, but some were doomed long before they reached him. Elder Price was lucky in that regard; he was able to walk out at the very least, though he knew better than most how little that truly meant.</p>
<p>But while he could heal the body, there was nothing Gotswana could do for the mind, not matter how much he wished there was. So he listened if they could bring themselves to share. He promised to keep their secretes. He offered what painkillers he could and made jokes to distract them. Sometimes it worked and he would be rewarded with a small spark in their eyes, just a little bit of their spirit reigniting. Other times he saw nothing but a blank canvas; they were the ones he usually only saw again as a corpse. </p>
<p>And then there were others—like the young Elder Price—the ones who had no spark, but weren’t entirely blank either. They were the ones he had to watch closely, carefully. Some he watched turn to drink, losing themselves in their minds and never reemerging. Some tried to act as if nothing had ever happened, slowly losing their minds until one day they couldn’t pretend any longer. Very few ever made it through; he had seen far to many just up and vanish, never to be seen again. He liked to imagine that they escaped, that they found a better life far from Kitguli. But he was a realist, and he knew that when a person disappeared that far to often that was the end. There were few who ever managed to truly escape. </p>
<p>Still, though, there were some—very few, true, but some—who made it. Those who found themselves, who came to terms with all that had happened. Those who lived. And it was those few who gave Gotswana hope for the boy limping away clutching the few painkillers Gotswana had been able to spare. He half expected the boy to turn toward the bar like so many before him, but, no, the boy kept heading straight toward the missionaries’ housing. </p>
<p>There would be no one there, Gotswana thought as he removed his coat and hung it from a nail. All the missionaries were gathering at the water for their baptisms. He was already running late, but part of him wanted to skip the ceremony, to go after the hurting boy. To offer something, anything. To try and help. </p>
<p>But what could he do? He did his best to heal the body, but it was the missionaries who claimed to heal the soul. What could he do that they could not? No; he could give pills, provide a distraction. He could watch and wait, be there if he was needed or wanted. Time would tell which direction Elder Price would go. He would keep the boy’s secret, would be there if the boy wanted. But for now he had a baptism, whatever that was, to get to.</p>
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